Wind-blown pollution high in the atmosphere can settle to ground level and contribute to air quality violations in the western U.S.

This USDA map shows seasonal mean of ambient ozone concentrations between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. over the continental United States from 1 July to 31 September 2005. Areas shown in brown, orange and red can experience significant crop yield loss and damage to ecosystem function from ambient ozone.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Springtime air pollution from Asia, carried across the Pacific Ocean by strong west winds, sometimes raises ozone levels in western states to levels that exceed air quality standards, according to NOAA-led study.

The pollution is carried high in the atmosphere, but high-resolution models and observations showed how some of the imported pollution can descend to the surface, where it affects ground-level ozone, a regulated pollutant.

At high concentrations, ground-level ozone can cause severe respiratory effects in some people, and it damages crops, trees, and other vegetation.

“We showed that Asian pollution directly contributes to surface ozone pollution episodes in parts of the western United States,” said Meiyun Lin, Ph.D., lead author of the new study. In several areas, about half of the springtime pollution episodes that exceeded federal limits would probably not have occurred without the contribution of Asian pollution, Lin said.

Still, Asian pollution contributed to no more than 20 percent of the ground-level ozone, according to the new study. Other sources of the pollutant include local fossil fuel use, wildfires, and imported pollution from other regions of the globe.

The research team drew upon data collected by balloon-borne instruments, aircraft, ground instruments, and satellites during an intensive study of air quality and climate in California in 2010. The scientists said the instrumentation and models could enable forecasters to predict incoming pollution several days in advance, vital information for public health officials charged with issuing pollution warnings.

The researchers found that NOAA GFDL’s high-resolution chemistry-climate model, AM3, could accurately reproduce the real-world pattern of ozone levels observed in California. And the model could differentiate the effects of local emissions – from vehicles, power plants and other factors – from Asian emissions.

During episodes of high surface ozone in parts of California and the Southwest, Asian emissions added 8 to 15 parts per billion of ozone to air, comprising up to 20 percent of the total. The Environmental Protection Agency’s health-based standard limits ozone to 75 parts per billion (averaged over 8 hours). Roughly half of the pollution episodes that exceeded that health-based standard would not have occurred – the study reported – without the addition of Asian pollution.

Emerging forms of torture cause no visible effect but are responsible for a variety of serious mental health problems

Torture remains widespread as a means of intimidation.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a 30-year-old ban, the use of torture remains widespread, especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East — but the techniques are more complex and sophisticated, according to research from Queen Mary, University of London.

The researchers, led by Dr Nasir Warfa at Barts and The London Medical School, based their study on asylum seekers who were being detained at Oakington Immigration Centre in Cambridgeshire. They carried out an audit of reports of torture over a six-month period. The results showed that 17 per cent of people at the Centre reported that they were tortured in their home countries.

The study suggests that these emerging forms of torture, which include various types of rape, bestiality and witnessing violent acts, are experienced by people seeking asylum in the UK. Continue reading →

A SECMOL volunteer sits atop one of our buses as we wait for the pass to open.

By Garrett Palm

Oxygen deprived, I mistake the older, leather-clad German couple’s “Sprechen sie Deutsch?” as asking if I speak Dutch. I sing a happy birthday song in the wrong language, learned from my mother, which they greet with polite, confused laughter. Continue reading →

A monkey in Kyoto collecting rocks, shaking them up, throwing them on the ground, and then studying how they fell. The rocks seemed to tell him to lunge for me.

Story and photos by Garrett Palm

In 2007, a few years before I went to Asia, wild monkeys attacked New Delhi’s deputy mayor, causing him to fall from his balcony and die. I knew this going in, and I still thought monkeys were cute.

A few monkeys lunged at me on my trip to Kyoto, but I still thought of them as cute little proto-humans. It took an experience at the Hanuman Temple in the Himalayan hill station town of Simla to finally change my mind.

I did not plan to hike up to the temple; I just wanted to wander near my guesthouse. Along the way the usual touts sold their wares.

“Monkey food?” The last thing I wanted to do was feed monkeys.

“Stick?” The walk did take me up a steep hill, but I didn’t need a hiking stick. Continue reading →

Pat yourselves on the back, Coloradans.A WalletHub survey show that residents of the state's three largest cities — Denver, Aurora and Colorado Springs — are harder workers than most of their peers nationally.